BJP defends IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's arrest

Terming as "right step" the arrest of IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who had implicated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 post-Godhra riot, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said a government cannot tolerate unaccountability and indiscipline from bureaucrats and police personnel.

"This is a very right step. Any state cannot tolerate unaccountability and indiscipline. Officers and police personnel have to follow a certain discipline, a code of conduct and decorum," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said. He also took a dig at Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had appeared to be sympathetic in his statements on Bhatt, over the arrest.

"Only Chidambaram may, with political intent, encourage such officers but we will not," Javadekar said. He insisted that even the Supreme Court had not taken cognisance of Bhatt's affidavit implicating Modi in Gujarat riots.

Bhatt was arrested on Friday on the basis of an FIR lodged by constable K D Pant, who had worked under him during the 2002 riots. In the FIR, Pant has accused the IPS officer of threatening a public servant, fabricating false evidence and wrongful confinement.